Return of the COG
by Lily Poe
Summary: Sequel to A New Beginning - As it turns out... Love may not Conquer all... but it sure can kick your ass! Rated M as always just in case I happen to offend.
1. Lost in Transition

Chapter 1 – Lost in Transition

_"The air outside was warm and blistering as it whipped tiny granules of sand from the barren desert before me. Not a tree in sight for a bit of comforting shade, and the heat waves emanating from the ground only reminded me of the cool water I desperately desired. For 2 days I've been drudging along, nearly freezing to death at night, and praying all day for an ounce of rain to cool my sun and wind burned body. I never thought leaving the city alone would be so hard. Jacinto's walls were more than a barrier, they were a protective shield."_

Lily continued her walk, never once wavering in her determination. The distance was longer than she had anticipated, she felt slightly unsure of herself. She knew her direction by the orange glow of the moon at night, but by day she'd slowly lose her bearings. She corrected herself at sun down, and knew she was losing valuable time, and running low on supplies. As Lily continued her trek through the Desolace Desert, she thought back; remembering why she had come so far, and why she must continue.

She had a love for Marcus that was unsurpassed by all. Granted she had forgotten it briefly, but in the end nothing could keep them apart, except for maybe the Colonel. It wasn't the first time he had tried to ruin Marcus, and surely if he lived long enough, the world would see it done again. Lily hadn't planned on her world falling apart around her the moment the King Raven touched down in Jacinto. She had thought everything had gone according to plan. She had thought that the second bomb had done it's job. Really, the bomb did much better than the first, thanks to the coordinates they managed to salvage. Only small factions of locust remained, all independent and cut off from one another. Surely, it wouldn't be long before the world was back to normal. Of course, this was no longer her concern. She had expected a hero's welcome, or at least a, "Congratulations." But when she saw Colonel Hoffman, and the small regime of MPs that followed, she knew that an accommodation was much, too much, to ask for... let alone expect from a man such as Hoffman.

Apparently in the few days that had passed the people had started to turn against the Coalition of Ordered Governments. A few files were found here and there, and it turned out that the Locust were actually a COG commissioned "experiment" if you will. More like a horrible mistake. A few guys in a lab were trying to create super soldiers to help win the pendulum wars. In doing so they seemed to create new life, a complex and quickly evolving being that sprang into more and more experiments. Trial and error it seemed was where their expertise lie, and error won.

So when the remaining soldiers, stranded, and common citizens a like heard that the entirety of their lives had been destroyed, along with 90% of the population, because the COG had delved into the work of the Gods, they had risen up. Hoffman was taking a hard hit by the Coalition, and had decided it was time to find his private scapegoat and bring back his good name. Marcus was that scapegoat, and this time Dom was in tow as well. They had all known that Dom breaking Marcus out of the Slab was a well-natured gesture, and no one had ever even spoken a word about the so-called "dereliction of duty." Everyone knew we needed Marcus to win the war, even the Chairman himself never said a word.

Now, with Cole MIA, Lily only had one option left. It pained her to know that her last hope sat with a man that bitterly disliked Marcus and had once been her lover. Baird and what was left of Sigma Squad were temporarily stationed in a small hell hole in the Desolace desert. There had been seismic activity only a few kilometers from the once COG outpost turned stranded camp, in the days following the 2nd bombing; which had come to be known as the Freedom Day Bomb.

She continued to transverse the empty wasteland praying she would arrive at her final destination soon. Marcus, despite his many capabilities, could only last so long in Hoffman's cage. And she was sure she was running low on time. She needed Baird's help, and she needed it now. She new that Cole's disappearance weighed heavily on Baird. Part of her just assumed Cole got a little too fed up with the COG, like the rest of them, only he had actually taken matters into his own hands...and gone Stranded.

As the sun began to set, she saw the growing orange glow rise, and beyond it a shadowed landscape bathed in what appeared to be torchlight. Lily sighed heavily, and knew she would soon be among others; she felt relieved. Her strides widened and her steps quickened. "Please. Please, Baird. They need your help," she whispered silently to the night. She almost broke into a run.


	2. A Shot in the Dark

Chapter 2 – A Shot in the Dark

She hadn't needed to run, the distance wasn't long, but the anticipation was killing her. She had come so far; finally a milestone lie before her, and hope was no longer hard to cling to. The torches left the city almost well lit, but quiet, too quiet. No hum of motors, no crackle of electricity, barely a sigh lingered in the air. She slowed her pace accordingly. The eerie silence left her senses in a state of perpetual alertness. She pulled her pistol from its holster and held it tightly, her grip never loosened, her panic never calming.

She followed along the inside of the city's largest wall, its barrier before the desert winds. She surveyed the quiet and empty streets, looking for any sign of life, beside the slowly dying torches. The smells of the city surrounded her, she caught faint traces of recently fired guns, meat, and what she thought must be some sort of fuel. Yet, the silence was near maddening. _Maybe they're all asleep, _she thought briefly, ignoring the nagging obviousness, that a COG outpost, would never be left unguarded, especially in hostile territory. Her adrenaline continued to pump ever faster through her veins, her thoughts raced just as fast. _Had she lost another member of her precious Delta Squad? _Soon, she feared, there would be no one left.

The small town still silent; she felt a warm breath on the back side of her neck, and before she could react; a hand in front of her mouth. With the speed and near super-human strength only a COG soldier could possess her body was lifted up, spun around, and stood straight upon the outer wall. She still hadnt reacted in the time the swift and silent action had took. When the female soldier was finally able to take a breath and gain her bearings once more; she saw Baird. His solid chin and hard bare chest were as firm as a rock flat against her armor. His skin glistened with specks of sand clinging to his sweaty figure.

She hesitated, and slowly tried to push away from his chest. He held tight, and leaned in toward her ear. He whispered, almost too breathy to understand, "shh, don't move. Hostiles." He was quick and to the point. She turned her head to see that the COG outpost's outerwall was topped with half a dozen armed soldiers. All eyes were trained upon the ground below. The rook-topped and crumbling walls had hidden their husky silhouettes from her previous view as an outsider. Lily returned to face Baird, and nodded and slid ever so slightly to her right. She holstered her pistol and lifted a long leather wrapped satchel from off her back. Quietly unraveling the suede strands that held the soft sheets of brown hide, she revealed the long metallic weapon. Her rifle. Her gift. Her soul reaper. _If the Locust had souls..._

She slid down upon the top of the wall; her shape molding seamlessly as her chest rested hard upon the concrete shambles. The long sniper rifle finally lay upon the rocks before her, in full view of the men of Sigma. She sighed and slowed her breathing. Baird still stood motionless beside her. He mentally thanked her timing and her sniping skills. Sigma had been low on supplies for weeks. Surviving the Locust was easy with meat in your belly and bullets in your gun. But when the ammo runs low, for both man and gun, it's hard to survive the desert, let alone the enemies from below it. He had tried to keep them focused, and alive; maybe, just maybe, she could be his savior. Again.

Baird knew Lily's reloads were the best timed in the COG, and her speed was impeccable, he just worried now that perhaps exhaustion and dehydration will have taken their toll. He still couldn't figure how she had made her way through the desert alone... or why she had braved such a desperate trip in the first place. His mind slowly began to drift. His musings didn't last long, as Lily began to stir behind her scope. He crouched beside her, hoping once again, to have her close beside him, and maybe in his arms.

Lily looked vigilantly through her Infrared scope. She nearly strained her eyes looking for the faint yellow glow emitted by the miniscule body heat of the subterranian beasts that hunted her war torn soldiers. Even the faintest of glimmers would cause her to react. A slight pull of her right first finger, and the yellow seemed to fade before her. And she was always triumphant. She never took kindly to failure... and she always fought with her all. Death no longer scared her. She had beaten him once, and she felt immortal before him.

All was still quiet in the darkness. No yellow in her view. The Locust seemed to be waiting for a sign, maybe provocation. She wasn't sure what had tipped off Baird and Sigma to their presence to begin with, but the imminent threat seemed to have faded slightly, and she took this, however, fleeting oppurtunity to remove herself from within her scope of security and take a quick glance at the few remaining members of Sigma Squad for a second time.

She scanned them briefly. The dim torch light didn't allow for much detail. They remained near motionless; stone statues. Some appeared to be wearing only half of their COG commissioned armor, and Lily really couldn't blame them. The heat was sweltering, even in the dark and 'cool' of night. As her gaze continued down the row of crumbled walls and statues of flesh, she stopped. Her eyes upon Baird and his fully exposed chest. His COG tags dangled around his neck, and almost gripped his body beneath the layers of sweat. His form was exquisite. Michaelangelo's 'David' couldn't hold a candle to the man that kneeled beside her.

She hadn't been looking long at his figure when she realized, he was admiring her as well. She had been caught, and his cocky smile awarded her gaze and her blushing cheeks. Part of her knew that she really didn't give a shit about Baird. Yet, a part of her remained that was a lonely, scared little girl. She needed Baird, not necessarily in the way he'd like her to; but regardless, she still needed him.

She sat back on her ankles and trying to keep the sound down to a minimum, grabbed the remaning ammo and weaponry she had clung to so desperately on her trek through the open landscape. Her 'Longshot' remained lying in front of her, and her fully loaded Boltok pistol at her side. The rest, she handed to the unarmed Commander still kneeling beside her. He only nodded. She knew that as a Commander he had apparently given his armor and munitions to his men, to better secure their survival in this shit-hole. A noble act, indeed, but a dumb one, she mused.

It was becoming increasingly obvious, that the Baird she remembered from just a few short weeks earlier, was not the man that crouched beside her. He had been humbled, and it almost scared her. Whatever it was that could knock the cocky bastard from his throne, it was something she was sure, she couldn't handle. She worried about his sanity slightly. An unarmed man, half-naked, and slightly broken wouldn't last long in a war. Despite their history, Damon Baird would always be one of her boys.

Her thoughts were interrupted with a slight rumbling from the darkness. It began to grow louder, and louder, the sand pulsed with the vibration. Lily threw herself down upon the ledge, and slammed, chest first; landing perfectly behind her rifle, still aligned with the central entrance to the camp. Her voice bellowed from her chest, echoing of the rooked pillars, "Grub Hole!"

The men snapped from their adrenaline fueled shock, and focused on the task at hand.

She raised her right hand, vision still locked on the large emergence hole collapsing through her scope only a click out. Her 2 fingers straight up, a wave, a point. The 2 furthest men along the top of the wall jumped down, and began to engage the enemy. They couldn't have the horde scattering. She needed them drawn in, ambushed, and defeated. She knew her new boys only at a glance, but all COGs were trained and conditioned the same. The 3 remaning privates stood at attention, Lancers drawn and ready to aim. This would be easier than she thought.

Baird still remained beside her, a mere shadow of the man he once was. He stared at Lily in astonishment. Her diligence and speed still left him in awe. She had rallied the men, grabbed their attention, and remained calm. She was a lot like Marcus... he wasnt. The desert had taken it's toll on him, and he was relieved that someone else could lead, if even for a solitary moment. Lily released her near empty canteen from her side belt with her left hand. Her right index finger never left the trigger and her left eye still focused straight ahead through the scope of her rifle. She handed the canteen to the battle-worn Commander beside her.

The hum of the automatic assault-rifles filled her ears from all sides. The Locust had taken the bait; the fight was on. She closed her eyes, slowed her mind, and fired shot after shot into the dark. Bullet after bullet pierced and dropped ever drone she fixed within her sights. Baird still catching his breath, had drank all the water in the canteen, and remained ever silent on his proximal perch. She never knew the meaning of the word hesitation. She never knew when to give up. Today a few dead grubs, and few surviving soldiers... tomorrow, Marcus.


	3. I'd Beg You on my Knees

Chapter 3 – I'd Beg You on my Knees

The tension was thicker than the smoke in the large tent they sat in. The final 6 of Sigma Squad sat before her in the dirty room. The smell of the cigars certainly caused her some discomfort, but not as much as the heat and sweat under her pounds and pounds of armor. She made her way to the far corner of the tented room, and slowly began undressing. The armor clanked and thudded as it fell to the ground. When she was finally done, all that remained were her tight black and gray camouflage pants and a black tank top. Her clothes were still wet from the sweat of a half-week's trek through the sand and sweltering heat. They clung to her chest and hips; all that remained of her curves.

The men of Sigma had been in the desert and in the military long enough, that not staring would have been suspicious. Lily, of course, was used to the reaction, although most times men were a bit more subtle with Marcus by her side. The thought of Marcus locked away in some hell hole of a prison after all he had done for his world, caused her so much agony. She couldn't help but feel like she hadn't done enough to save him. A single tear began to form in the corner of her eye, and sensing all eyes upon her, she turned from the view of the men; pretending to be engulfed in some action with her armor that still lie upon the concrete slabbed floor.

She bottled up her fear and hesitantly walked toward Damon. He was still silent, hunkered on the floor screwing around with what seemed to be some sort of machinery... an engine maybe. She wondered why, after everything, would he still be working tirelessly on some new and useless contraption. His face was contorted, and determined, although he hadn't noticed her lack of armor until now, he kept his composure well. She wondered if her name had ever arisen in conversation with the other men of Sigma. _Did men actually speak of their sexual 'conquests' with one another? Or was that something only teenaged girls cooed about at slumber parties? _Surely a man of Baird's position would never speak of his fraternization. But why then, she wondered, would the men not stop staring at her as she reached and crouched by Baird's side.

She put her hand on his shoulder, and smiled. He hadn't wanted to be in this war to begin with, truth be told, neither did she. But here they sat, together they fought side by side for a government that created this whole hell for them, and together they could surely find a way out of this mess.

"Lily, what the fuck are you even doing out here?" he sighed and continued, "You really don't belong in this mess. Go home to Marcus. Just go."

"Damon..." she bit her lip, "That's just it, I can't. I need your help. I know I'm the last person you'd risk your ass for, but if you can find a reason... dammit Baird, I just don't have anyone else."

With that she curled her whole form forward, and sobbed silently. Every soldier in the room stared, and she couldn't find a place inside that fucking cared anymore. She managed, through the tears, to tell them all about the shit Colonel Hoffman had pulled against Marcus and Dom. She told them of the betrayal. How the COGs own scientists had created the Horde that had killed their families and friends. All the deaths and blood that lay upon their cherished government's feet. By the time her rant had finished, all the men had made their way to the ground, and all remained in shock. Some in tears, some fuming with rage... others just sat there in quiet contemplation.

Sigma Squad Commander Damon Baird stood up from behind his chunks and blocks of metal. He took Lily by the hand, and lifted her slightly, beckoning her up and off her knees. He looked her dead in the eyes, no emotion shown through his face, but his eyes penetrated her soul. "Alright, Lily. We'll take you back to Jacinto. All of us. I'm not sure what'll happen after that..." he paused, and then with the deep certainty that all Commanders possessed, "Pack your shit boys, we're going stranded. And we're going home." the men rose to their feet, and left the small tent. None returned til dawn.

XXXXX

The hours ticked by in the dark of night. The torches slowly flickered out, bits of charred wood riddled the ground, and she sat in the large tent, with tons of things swiping through her mind. The pictures flickered by, and yet, she had nothing to say to him. Baird continued his work on the engine-like block of parts. He always tinkered under stress. It allowed him time to think... she knew not to bother him, yet the words still sat on the edge of her bitter tongue. She stared at him, and his now grease covered hands and face. She missed the Baird she had once known... but this new Baird, had lost his cockiness, and part of her... really wanted to know him too.

She laid her head down upon the thin and torn blanket that sat next to her. She curled, back against the wall, and closed her eyes. Her mind kept spinning. Her heart raced, but she knew that the sun would bring another long day, and she needed the rest... now, more than ever. She had to make it back to Marcus. Someday she hoped that his ego would let him forgive her, for asking Baird for help. She really wasn't sure if it was even something Marcus could deem forgivable. But she never her forgiveness was what was really important... it was Marcus's freedom, and life in general. And Lily never questioned herself. She always did what she thought was best. Her breathing slowed, and with Baird nearby, she finally felt safe enough to sleep.


End file.
